How to Use the Importer Event Scheduler to Generate Test Schedules

In trial/demo installations of Events2HVAC with integration partners, end to end testing is difficult to do without having both an event provider system (reservation system) and an HVAC system in place.

Our software is the middleware between the two sides. Normally, our clients would already have in place one of the following room reservation systems:

Without one of the above systems in place, it is possible to generate test rooms and schedule data using the Scheduler Importer event provider in Events2HVAC. The Schedule Importer is a component which simulates the interface between an event provider and Events2HVAC through event data generated manually by the user in CSV format and then imported manually.

This data is saved in the local Events2HVAC database and is treated like any other event schedule coming from any other scheduling system.

Installation

To make the event importer available, running the installer for the first time, select the “Schedule Importer” radio button when prompted to choose an event provider. If you have already installed Events2HVAC and wish to enable the Import Event Provider, uninstall the application and reinstall with the importer selected.

Click through the rest of the installation, selecting the Device interfaces that you will be using. For more details on the installation, refer to the online help

Generating Data for Import

With the Importer event provider installed and with a collection of equipment items created, you can import rooms and events to perform and test room mapping as well as explore the event and calendar viewers in Events2HVAC. All of this functionality is available from the “Events” menu bar item.

To generate events with the Importer, the data is first created in a CSV flat file, then loaded using either the “Import Events” or “Import Rooms” options. These import tools are not the same as import options available for equipment item creation—room (assignment/mapping), equipment items, and actions.

Before building a CSV file, select “Importer Options” and then Room Column Mapping or Event Column Mapping buttons, which designate what fields will be used in each import and in what order they will appear. By default, all fields are selected, however not all are mandatory; check the event provider user manual to see the definitions of each column which columns are required for the import.

To disable a column from the list, set the column’s order of appearance value as -1. If the enabled columns do not exactly match the columns in the import file, an import may fail, or worse, information may be scrambled between fields. CSV column headers do not have to be included in the import file, though they are strongly recommended for reference and to avoid errors.

Example room columns:

For a complete list of event fields, see http://help.events2hvac.com/default.htm#!WordSourceNoSVN/roomandbuildinginformation.htm

Example event columns:

For a complete list of event fields, see http://help.events2hvac.com/default.htm#!WordSourceNoSVN/eventinformation.htm

With the desired columns set, create your CSV files.

Example room CSV:

Each roomid and buildingid must be unique for respective rooms and buildings.

Example event CSV:

It is important to note that roomid/roomname must match an existing roomid/roomname in the rooms imported earlier. Eventid should be unique for room schedule.

Note: ensure that the import file is saved with the .csv extension. The Importer event provider does not support the use of .xls, .txt, or other file types.

Importing Rooms

The room import is typically a one-time event. This will create a master room list along with any building associations.

With a CSV created, to import rooms, select Events->Import Rooms:

This opens the Import Rooms wizard. Read the overview, then click Next.

Here, input the file path for your import document. Note also that the column mapping can be adjusted from this screen. Click ‘Next’ when ready.

Before adding the items to the database, the wizard allows you to review your data. If there is a problem, for example if the column mapping does not match up, modify your file as necessary, return to the initial screen by clicking 'Back', and restart the process. Otherwise, click 'Next'.

In this screen, the results of the import are displayed. Any rows for which errors occurred will be listed here. If successful, click 'Next', and then click 'Finish' in the subsequent screen to close the rooms wizard.

Importing Events

To import events, select Events->Import Events:

Read the information provided, then click ‘Next’.

As with rooms, select the file path of your CSV file, and click 'Next'.

Review the data for correctness, then click ‘Next’.

If any errors occurred, review the CSV file, and make corrections. Click ‘Force Schedule Update’ to add any resulting new commands to the queue immediately. Otherwise, they will be added to the queue when Events2HVAC next polls the event database.

Click ‘Next’ when finished, and then ‘Finish’ to close the import dialogue.

Verifying Results

Now that you have imported rooms and a list of event schedules for those rooms, if I now open the Event Calendar tab (Events-> Event Calendar), the events appear correctly, at the scheduled times.

Now that you can see the events in the event calendar, you can create your equipment list and do your room and equipment action mapping to start testing.

Sample CSV files

Attached are sample room and event csv files. You can modify these to get started quickly.